Getting Wake Forest to come to your home arena has to be one of the great get-wells in all the land. There are teams that are bad on the road. Maryland has only one road win all year so far. Then there are teams that are really bad on the road. The kind that might only win one game the entire year at an opponent's arena. But then, when you think you've hit bottom, is Jeff Bzdzelik and whatever team he's coaching, racking up a 2-43 road record. Literally. That's his road record at Colorado and Wake Forest. How he still retains employment and handsome compensation is one of the great mysteries of not only basketball but the world.
There really isn't much to say about a game where your team has the fifth highest shooting percentage in school history, and an eFG% nearing 80%, that isn't effusive praise. The more the year goes on, the more it seems that Maryland isn't a bad three-point shooting team so much as an inconsistent one. This was obviously one of their better days. Logan Aronhalt seems to have regained form over the past few games, and Jake Layman is absolutely torrid since ACC play started. Seth Allen got his groove back as well - finally - and Dez Wells and Nick Faust show some range at times. Only Pe'shon Howard seems like a lost cause out there, but since it's been seemingly weeks since he made any type of positive play, that isn't a surprise.
SHOT CHART
Howard: (0-1, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0)
Faust: (1-2, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)
Wells: (3-5, 0-0, 0-1, 1-1)
Padgett: (3-3, 3-3, 0-0, 0-0)
Len: (5-6, 1-1, 0-0, 0-0)
Allen: (1-3, 0-1, 0-0, 3-4)
Aronhalt: (1-1, 1-1, 0-0, 3-4)
Layman: (0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 4-6)
Mitchell: (2-3, 0-1, 0-0, 0-0)
Cleare: (2-2, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0)
ON TO BLACKSBURG
Next up is Virginia Tech, on the road. We all know the Terps' road woes, and the Hokies have been downright feisty the last two games, taking North Carolina and Miami to the limit. But make no mistake, this is an absolute must win for any team with aspirations of more than an NIT invitation. The Hokies have lost 10 out of 14, and even with the ability to deploy a rotation of more realistic depth now, they're not one of the better teams in the conference. They would have beaten North Carolina with any reasonable type of game from Erick Green (5-17 2FG) so it's certainly not ridiculous to think that VT can upset a given team at home with the nice game they had from their supporting cast. That being said, it's tough to expect Robert Brown, Jarell Eddie and Cadarian Raines will all crack double figures, so let's call this Terps by 9 as they pull away late.
Showing posts with label bzzz this. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bzzz this. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Snaer'd
I just wonder why you would leave a man with a reputation for clutch three point shooting open to take a clutch three point shot as time winds down. For all the good Dezmine Wells did last night, the decision to double (triple?) down on a driving Ian Miler instead of staying with Snaer was inexcusable
Maryland was doomed from the start of the play. Nick Faust got rubbed off a (possibly moving) baseline screen by Miller. Once Miller caught the ball three men descended upon him - none of which were the man assigned to mark him. My math is rusty, but I'm pretty sure that guaranteed that at least one Seminole would be open. Worse than that, Miller than got into the lane nearly unmolested by the defense. Credit him for the heads up play for finding Snaer after Dez Wells lost his damn mind, and after that it was almost as academic as a layup.
Many will look at Dez Wells' 8-12 night from the field (19 points) and the tough shots he made and say he kept us in the game. True to an extent, but while I hate to harp on the night's leading scorer, his six turnovers are unacceptably high. The Terps had 71 points in 49 possessions where they didn't turn the ball over, good for about 1.4 points per trip. So true, Dez had 19 points, but you simply can't look at that without debiting it by eight or so points for all the unforced errors that ended possessions.
Maryland was doomed from the start of the play. Nick Faust got rubbed off a (possibly moving) baseline screen by Miller. Once Miller caught the ball three men descended upon him - none of which were the man assigned to mark him. My math is rusty, but I'm pretty sure that guaranteed that at least one Seminole would be open. Worse than that, Miller than got into the lane nearly unmolested by the defense. Credit him for the heads up play for finding Snaer after Dez Wells lost his damn mind, and after that it was almost as academic as a layup.
There isn't much more to say. The offense actually came to play, looking nearly well-oiled for the first time seemingly since Greivis Vasquez was on campus, or at very least since the Virginia Tech game earlier this month. The Terps scored 71 points in 65 possessions, a solid performance, but in the end turnovers were the undoing. Maryland was -10 in that battle, coughing the rock up 16 times versus only six takeaways. You can't do that.
Many will look at Dez Wells' 8-12 night from the field (19 points) and the tough shots he made and say he kept us in the game. True to an extent, but while I hate to harp on the night's leading scorer, his six turnovers are unacceptably high. The Terps had 71 points in 49 possessions where they didn't turn the ball over, good for about 1.4 points per trip. So true, Dez had 19 points, but you simply can't look at that without debiting it by eight or so points for all the unforced errors that ended possessions.
So it's on the next one. I said before this game that The Terps Really Need This One or Else, so, uh I guess they really, really pretty please with sugar on top need to go ahead and beat 10-10 Wake Forest at home on the courts of Comcast tomorrow afternoon.
To that end, I'm pretty confident that this will be more like Virginia Tech at home than Boston College at home. The Deacs aren't too dissimilar to the Hokies. While the Hokies have a competent offense and an Ivy-League level defense, the Deacons are similarly bad on both sides of the ball. The reason I point to the similarities is that it's one or two guys and then not much else. Sure, no one on Wake is as fantastic as Erick Green is for VT, but then Travis McKie and CJ Harris is as good a one-two punch as a bad team will have.
Harris isn't a huge volume shooter, but his percentages (51/42/83) are outstanding and he'll get to the line a ton. McKie also has similar numbers, albeit trading a few points of accuracy for increased usage. He's also a very strong rebounder for a 6-7 de facto PF. After those two, with six freshman and a sophomore rounding out the rotation, there isn't much. Devin Thomas is very good rebounder and defender, giving Wake Forest its only legitimate player with size at 6-9. He had an outstanding 29-14 game in the upset win over NC State last week and has become a consistent double figure scorer in ACC play.
Long gone are the days of Dino Gaudio making a Good Sauce, and the Jeff Bzzz era is still at least another year from being a danger to sting anyone. Kenpom and Vegas both call it Terps -11. I'll say the Terps keep the offensive chops they found against the Seminoles and win it by 17 going away.
To that end, I'm pretty confident that this will be more like Virginia Tech at home than Boston College at home. The Deacs aren't too dissimilar to the Hokies. While the Hokies have a competent offense and an Ivy-League level defense, the Deacons are similarly bad on both sides of the ball. The reason I point to the similarities is that it's one or two guys and then not much else. Sure, no one on Wake is as fantastic as Erick Green is for VT, but then Travis McKie and CJ Harris is as good a one-two punch as a bad team will have.
Harris isn't a huge volume shooter, but his percentages (51/42/83) are outstanding and he'll get to the line a ton. McKie also has similar numbers, albeit trading a few points of accuracy for increased usage. He's also a very strong rebounder for a 6-7 de facto PF. After those two, with six freshman and a sophomore rounding out the rotation, there isn't much. Devin Thomas is very good rebounder and defender, giving Wake Forest its only legitimate player with size at 6-9. He had an outstanding 29-14 game in the upset win over NC State last week and has become a consistent double figure scorer in ACC play.
Long gone are the days of Dino Gaudio making a Good Sauce, and the Jeff Bzzz era is still at least another year from being a danger to sting anyone. Kenpom and Vegas both call it Terps -11. I'll say the Terps keep the offensive chops they found against the Seminoles and win it by 17 going away.
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